Great Family

In December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British General Sir William Howe and Richard Admiral Lord Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess”. But as historian Julie Flavell reveals, these meetings were about much more than board games: They were cover for a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of the American War of Independence.

Discover Sir Ranulph Twistelton-Wykham-Fiennes's personal expedition to trace his extraordinary family through the twists and turns of history. From Charlemagne - himself a direct ancestor of the author - to the count who very nearly persuaded William the Conqueror to retreat at Hastings, many members of this unique clan have lived close to the nerve centre of the ruler of their day.

During her 70 years on the throne, few got to know the Queen well, but there is one body of work that sheds new light on her thoughts, personality and the issues that really concerned her: the Queen's own speeches. Based on in-depth research and interviews with many of those who knew the Queen best, this audiobook sheds new light on the life and career of our much-missed monarch.

Welcome to the Rotten School, a new series set in a boarding school that's rotten to the core. The school motto is Growth, Learning, Pizza. Meet charming conniver Bernie Bridges, his arch-rival Sherman Oaks, housemother Mrs. Heinie, Coach Bunz, Headmaster I. Will Upchuck, and the rest of the students and faculty in two stories that prove that while good is good and bad is better, rotten is the best of all!

Brent Wade has had one primary quest...to become Daddy of the Year to his five kids. As a renowned speaker, coach, and author, Brent has helped hundreds of dads learn the practical and powerful skills it takes to become Daddy of the Year.

Rose Zadeh pleases everyone, except herself. Memories of her late Iranian-immigrant father, who valued hard work and family, keep Rose in a dead-end job as a Silicon Valley copywriter, and tethered to her guilt-trippy mom and needy sisters. As much as it would disappoint her father, Rose needs an escape. Voilà! A mandated vacation gives her the chance. Three weeks on a long-dreamed-of trip to the City of Light. Instead of landing in a Parisian fairy tale, Rose falls under the spell of a charming and possibly dangerous expat.

This collection of Billie's super dooper adventures includes Billie's Great Desert Adventure, Billie's Underwater Adventure, Billie B Brown's Animal Hospital Adventure, Billie's Outer Space Adventure, Billie's Wild Jungle Adventure and Billie's Yummy Bakery Adventure.

A wonderful period piece, set in the time of the Great Depression. This audiobook follows two youths, as they struggle to cross the now-broken country to find their estranged family in rural California. In the process, they discover their own strengths and inevitable weaknesses. In the end, there are many lessons of life, survival, and respect for their fellow brethren.

Der größte Roman, den Jonathan Franzen seit den Korrekturen geschrieben hat. Sein Meisterwerk! Es ist der 23. Dezember 1971, und die Familie Hildebrandt steht an einem Scheideweg. Der Vater Russ, zweiter Pastor an einer Vorstadtkirche in Chicago, ist bereit, sich aus seiner Ehe zu lösen, die ihm freudlos erscheint - vorausgesetzt, seine patente, aber labile Frau Marion löst sich zuerst. Ihr ältester Sohn, Clem, kommt über die Feiertage aus dem College nach Hause, nachdem er eine moralische Entscheidung gefällt hat, die seinen Vater erschüttern wird.

Eleven-year-old Echo Quickthorn has grown up believing that nothing exists outside the Kingdom of Lockfort, but everything changes when an eccentric professor parks his airship outside her window armed with a map that shows all the magical places that exist beyond the city walls. Together with her pet lizard, Gilbert, Echo sets off on an incredible adventure to find her missing mother, an adventure that will take her to unimaginable places, places filled with giant butterflies, mechanical dragons and...sky pirates!

Fatherhood can be a new and exciting time, but if you aren’t prepared, it can cause a whole host of challenges and difficulties. But now, this book uncovers how you can revolutionize your parenting skills and succeed in the world of fatherhood! Covering everything from the top tips you need to know to how you can manage the pressure of fatherhood, juggle your work and home life, and make enough time for your new child, this audiobook is your ultimate guide to improving your parenting skills and preventing these new responsibilities from overwhelming you.

In the early 1800s Lehmann Gluckstein and his family escaped the pogroms of Eastern Europe and made their way to Whitechapel in the East End of London. There, starting with nothing, they worked tirelessly to pull themselves out of poverty, creating a small tobacco factory that quickly grew to become the largest catering company in the world: J. Lyons. For over a century, Lyons was everywhere. Its restaurants and corner houses were on every high street, its coffee and tea in every cup, its products in every home. The company transformed the way we eat, drink and are entertained.

How would it feel if all your sons and daughters were caught up in war? What would it be like to spend six years fearing what a telegram might bring? That was the heart-wrenching reality faced by so many families throughout the Second World War, including the parents of the Walker children. From the Blitz to the battlefields of Europe and the Far East, this is the remarkable story of four brothers and two sisters who were swept along by the momentous events of the war.

50 Things to Know About Throwing a Kid’s Birthday Party, by Tina Wither, offers an approach to organizing a child’s birthday party that is practical and helpful in many different ways.

Communication is the most important aspect of our daily lives, yet most of us are not very good at it, and it takes a back seat in academic study. We learn history, science, and math, and we learn to memorize the spelling of words and their meanings as well as how to put them together in sentences through proper punctuation. However, we receive little instruction on how to use those words and sentences to express adequately our ideas, create consensus, resolve conflicts, and improve our alliances.

Parenting great kids doesn’t happen by accident, and with the proper training, anyone can raise positive, motivated children. In today’s fast-paced culture, vast amounts of information bombard our children from all sides, competing for their attention. Nevertheless, research demonstrates that a parent’s involvement is the number-one contributing factor to the ultimate respectfulness and motivation of kids. So the question is, how do you structure your communications and activities with your children to create a positive attitude with a bright future?

After his daughter was born prematurely in 2010, Matt Burriesci set out to write a book about 32 great books, from Plato to Karl Marx, and how their lessons have applied to his life. As someone who has spent a long and successful career advocating for great literature, Burriesci defends the great books in this series of tender and candid letters, rich in personal experience and full of humor.

Featured in this volume are the Bennett family and an all-star cast: William J. Bennett (plus John, Joseph, and Elayne), Edward Asner, Claire Bloom, Barbara Bush, Dorian Harewood, Charlton Heston, Andrea Martin, David McCallum, Kate Nelligan, Tonya Pinkins, and Richard Thomas.

When people think of the British Royal family, and more specifically where they live, the first image that often pops into mind is that of stately Buckingham Palace, with its changing of the guard and the occasional royal coach leaving or entering. Others may think of the royal country estate of Windsor Castle, a favorite of both Britain's longest-reigning and second longest-reigning monarchs. But there was a time when both royal residences played second fiddle to a much better known home.

Primarily aimed at first-time fathers, this guidebook not only helps men understand the process they go through when dealing with pregnancy but also shows them how they can participate in positive ways. Author Pratik Patil offers information and advice that doesn't appear in other pregnancy guides. The main purpose of this book is to help men help their wives during pregnancy and also to teach them how to take care of their own physical and mental health in their journey into pregnancy.